Animal Models in Cancer Research: Revolutionizing the Field of Oncology

Cancer is a disease characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of cells. This loss of control arises because of environmental, pathogenic, lifestyle, and hereditary factors individually or combined. The headwinds in current research include early diagnosis followed by metastasis and recurrence. Hence, cancer research becomes essential for prevention, early intervention, and to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease. Various animal models are used in cancer research to aid in a better understanding of disease biology. Mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits, and zebrafish are commonly used animal species. Each species has a unique characteristic that helps researchers to develop a model system. The cancer models can be spontaneously driven, chemically induced, syngeneic, or humanized mouse models, xenotransplant models (CDX/PDX), or genetically engineered. In this chapter, we offer an outline of the various animal models with emphasis on different techniques of development of a few of the cancer models.